Insurance Nightmare

Months After 3 Hurricanes Hit Central Florida, Many Residents Have Sued Insurers To Get Enough Money To Fix Their Homes.

March 6, 2005|By Rene Stutzman, Sentinel Staff Writer

Ada Robertson has had a homeowners policy with Allstate Insurance for more than 40 years. The 72-year-old widow stuck with the company, she said, because it felt like family.

No more. Robertson now is suing Allstate.

Hurricane Charley tore up her roof, leaving leaks that ruined a ceiling and did other damage to her otherwise immaculate two-story home in east Orange County.

A contractor told her the repairs would cost $53,000. Allstate offered $5,300 -- its $8,000 damage estimate minus her deductible.

"It's been a nightmare for me," she said.

Robertson isn't alone. She is one of hundreds of Florida homeowners who have filed suit against their insurers, accusing the companies of offering too little money to repair hurricane damage. Many say their contractors have come up with repair estimates tens of thousands of dollars higher than those by insurance adjusters.

The homeowners are angry. Several have not been able to live in their homes since August.

The lawsuits involve dozens of insurance companies, big and small.

Both sides say the other is to blame.

Homeowners sometimes expect too much, said Mark Pritchett, executive vice president with the Collins Center for Public Policy, a think tank hired by the state to set up a hurricane-damage mediation program.

People don't understand their policies have limits and don't cover every single thing that has been damaged, he said.

But insurance companies also can be wrong, he said. Some hire adjusters who do a poor job. Or they balk, not necessarily at what needs to be fixed, but at how much it will cost, because of soaring construction prices since the storms, Pritchett said.

"I've seen some heroic efforts by insurance companies to make homeowners whole," Pritchett said. But there also are those insurers that use "unscrupulous" tactics.

Robertson paid for some of her repairs, including a new roof. All she wants, she said, is enough money to cover the damage.

"I don't like to sue people," she said. But Allstate "is trying to take advantage of me."

Allstate would not discuss the case.

A review of hurricane-related lawsuits filed in Central Florida found more than 100 in Orange County alone. The overwhelming majority of those cite damage from Hurricane Charley, which roared through Central Florida on Aug. 13, leaving more than $2 billion in insured losses.

Hurricane Charley had ripped most of the shingles from his roof, allowing water to get into the house. The ceiling in his son's bedroom collapsed onto the boy's empty bed.

"Insulation was everywhere," Mickler said.

For weeks, the family put up with a leaky roof and unrepaired damage.

"I had FEMA tarps, but I was up on the roof every third day, refastening them because they kept blowing off," he said.

Mickler hired an independent adjuster, who estimated damage at $45,000, he said.

His insurer offered $8,200 for repairs, less a deductible of $3,200.

Mickler said he's not sure how Universal came up with that number. When he pressed for more, all he got was delays, so he fixed the roof and some of the interior damage himself -- and hired a lawyer.

"I was being jerked around, basically," Mickler said.

But that changed shortly after he sued.

"The insurance company all of a sudden got very cooperative," he said.

Last month, Universal and Mickler settled on $35,000, Mickler said.

A company official would not discuss the case, except to say that it had been resolved.

"Bottom line, we have actively tried to help our insured as best we can and will continue to do so," said Sean Downes, Universal's chief operating officer.

$14.7 BILLION IN PAYOUTS

The hurricanes have been an enormous drain on the state's property-insurance industry. The storms generated 1.7 million claims, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.

As of Feb. 24, insurers had paid out $14.7 billion, or two-thirds of the total estimated loss, the agency reported.

About 90 percent of hurricane-related claims have been resolved, according to the state agency. But that leaves about 150,000 property owners still at odds with their insurers.

Tom Gallagher, the state's chief financial officer, last week chewed out the executives of five small insurers, accusing them of failing to pay hurricane victims all the money they're due or moving too slowly. He demanded that they meet him face to face this week.

He also scheduled a town-hall meeting at Dr. Phillips High School in Orange County for March 19 from 9 a.m. to noon to allow Central Florida hurricane victims to talk about their insurance problems.

In November, his office decided to establish a mediation team, hoping to keep disputes out of court. Since then, more than 2,000 property owners have gone through that process. They sit down with a mediator, a representative of their insurance company and a neutral lawyer.